SVL election is a clean sweep

SPRING VALLEY LAKE — All four candidates supported by the Spring Valley Lake Concerned Property Owners, or SVL-CPO, won seats on the association's Board of Directors during Saturday's election.

Ken Bodle, Kirt Mahlum, Ernie Martell and Jill Watson were elected to the board, which is in charge of the budget and amenities for the 4,205-home community.

"I think we will have more unified thought," Bodle said of the sweeping victory. "The board was heading in the right direction. Now we just need to keep that momentum going."

A total of 1,367 votes were cast, according to Osmar Castro, general manager of the association. He said they received enough ballots to meet the minimum required quorum — at least 25 percent of the SVL property owners — more than a week before the deadline.

Still, he said turnout for Saturday's election was lower than expected.

The new members joined Joanie Waugaman and Jeri Lawrence, also supported by SVL-CPO, and Cindi Burklow, with rival faction HELPFUL. They will all serve their second years on the board.

The new board held their first official meeting immediately following the count, with an open session to nominate new positions. Former Treasurer Lawrence was nominated as president of the board, Martell was nominated vice president, Burklow as secretary and Bodle was voted treasurer.

The four new members defeated candidates endorsed by HELPFUL: Louise Anderson, incumbent Donna Helm, Hank McGill and Kenneth Whittington.

"We didn't work hard enough I guess," said McGill of the loss.

McGill said while the candidates themselves weren't involved, members of the SVL-CPO scared people into voting for their candidates."I thought there was an awful lot of dirty work going on."

As a result, McGill said he won't run for any future positions with the association.

"They told me I was too old to run this time," he said with a laugh, referring to an alleged campaign by the SVL-CPO against the older candidates.

Still, he said, "I can't believe anyone of us didn't get it, especially Donna Helm. I thought for sure she would get back on the board."Helm was running for re-election, having taken over for a board member who resigned last July.

"I'm disappointed that people voted to ticket and didn't vote for independent candidates," she said. "Overall, I believe voting the whole ticket was a poor choice for our association."

Helm said she's also disappointed that some of the elected candidates weren't at all election meetings and don't all have experience working for SVL.

"They should be more than just a pillar in the business community," she said.

Though she said association fees would likely have gone up some no matter who was elected, she thinks they may go up more with the outcome, since SVL-CPO members have asserted an increase in fees is needed to maintain and upgrade the community and keep the association financially stable.

Helm said she will definitely run again in the future.

"I plan to stay very, very active and apply to as many committees as time permits."

Jim Carr, one of the founders of SVL-CPO, said he believes much of the success of his group was due to its platform to not make drastic changes, to focus on public safety and to prevent non-resident traffic from burdening SVL.

"This platform evidently resonated with the members of the community," Carr said.

Martell, who was feeling pretty confident leading into the election, said addressing safety concerns for children walking to the new junior high will be one of his first orders of business.

Bodle echoed that sentiment.

"I think that people in the community have the same view as we do about security and some of these other issues we stand for," he said.In the past, elections have resulted in recalls, recounts and resignations. With close monitoring of this election by the third-party Inspectors of Election, Castro said he is hopeful there won't be such controversy this year.

The first Board of Directors town hall meeting under the new board is scheduled for May 27.

Brooke Edwards may be reached at 955-5358 or at bedwards@vvdailypress.com.